Leopard wrasse for “expert only”?

[Mariette]

Liveaquaria has them listed as “expert only” but doesn’t explain why. Plus it says best in group of 3 or more. I am NOT an expert. But I’m not a newbie either. 2 years in and I’m shocked at how much I have to learn. So: how big a tank would you think 3 would need and why the expert only rating?

 

[1Blazer]

Really finicky eaters in my experience. Also, must have a sand bed for them to sleep. If you dont, they stress out and die.

 

[tp5056]

I’m not an expert but I’ve kept a few now successfully ...

Biggest thing to me is:

- need a sand bed
- making sure there aren’t any other fish that would cause aggression in your tank
- healthy specimen
- getting it to eat frozen

I’m sure there are more things to consider but that’s what I can think of right away.

 

[Mariette]

Really finicky eaters in my experience. Also, must have a sand bed for them to sleep. If you dont, they stress out and die.

Sandbed - no problem
Finicky eaters - BIG problem
THX!

 

[Geebs19]

Ive asked the same questions before and was told that it is hard to get them to eat, as long as they are eating ive heard you are good to go. @hdsoftail1065 picked one up from his LFS that was eating and hasnt had any issues.

 

[Mariette]

I’m not an expert but I’ve kept a few now successfully ...

Biggest thing to me is:

- need a sand bed
- making sure there aren’t any other fish that would cause aggression in your tank
- healthy specimen
- getting it to eat frozen

I’m sure there are more things to consider but that’s what I can think of right away.

How often did you feed them?

 

[Daniel@R2R]

@evolved or @eatbreakfast might have some wisdom to add here

 

[pirate2876]

I have a few, and from my experience you are better off getting them from a LFS rather than a online site. Leopards are terrible shippers and I feel it's not worth the risk.

 

[tp5056]

How often did you feed them?

I feed my tank three times a day on average ... mixture of brine and hikari mysis

I’ve got a black, moyers, and blue star leopard wrasses.

 

[Oshengems]

Expert I think because of certain things, most importantly you definitely need an established tank with tons of pods or small creatures for them to hunt they do this literally all day, that’s after you get lucky and get one to eat. 3 blue stars later I realized I got lucky with my first leopard, once established they are solid as rock tho, also sand to sleep and they are no great shippers neither, also the info I found generally old said it all starts with the method it’s collected

 

[ngoodermuth]

Species makes a difference, for example Potter’s leopards are almost impossible to ship and are significantly more difficult than some of the others.

I’ve had (and have) a few leopards, once they acclimate they are pretty hardy. I do recommend QT for a few reasons:

1. If they don’t eat right away, you might find yourself dumping a variety of foods on them to hopefully perk interest. This can cause issues if the “dump tank” is a pretty DT with lots of corals and other things that enjoy clean water.

2. No competition for food in QT. It’s sometimes easier to get them eating if they can copy another fish that’s eating... but that being said you don’t want them to have to fight 10-15 or more other fish for a morsel.

3. They often come with flukes and intestinal parasites, which are more easily addressed in QT. (Not to mention any other parasites that might be hitching a ride)

My meleagris took the longest to eat, somewhere around 2 weeks. Coincidentally, it was the only one I didn’t purchase locally and had shipped. Cyclops were the first big “hit”, once it figured out it was food I was sending... took to pretty much everything.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Not much to add.

They don't ship well, often have internal parasites, 'an bury for an extended period on arrival, and young individuals have a fast metabolism.

Having pods available for them to graze, and getting them from an LFS so you can see their swimming and whether they are eating can go a long way.

After their first few weeks in captivity, they can be quite hardy.

 

[Idoc]

I have 2 in quarantine right now. I definitely recommend going very slowly with them for treatments and monitoring. I purchased mine from a LFS, so I was able to watch them to ensure they were already adapting to tank life. I started with live brine...then added frozen brine with the live brine...once starting to eat the frozen brine, I started adding in other frozen foods with the frozen brine and now no longer use the live brine. This has been a slow process over the past 4-6 weeks. Mine were active and then all of a sudden decided to bury into the sand for 4 days before emerging again. Now, they are more adapted and on a schedule for being active or buried...albeit their own crazy schedule! They come out sometime before I turn the lights on in the morning...and go to bed around 4pm!

One of mine is eating like crazy and gets a "pouch" of a belly after gorging herself....the other is much more picky and very skinny. I'm concerned with the skinny one, but she shows no other signs of distress at this time.

If using Copper treatments, start very slowly ramping. I started mine out with about 1ppm initially since they were in a tank at the LFS already with a low level of copper...I kept them in that and monitored without any other treatments for about 3 weeks while training to eat frozen. Then, I took a week to ramp up the copper to around 1.75ppm and they have been in that for 14 days now. I'm leaving for a few days, so when I return, I'll transfer them to a new sterile QT and begin fluke/internal parasite treatments.

So, basically they are expert level due to the initial work required to get them healthy and adapted to your system!

 

[Mariette]

Thanks for all the input guys. I won’t be available to feed 3 times a day and I’m reluctant to rely on pods so looks like they’re not for me. Thx all for commenting

 

[Jesterrace]

Liveaquaria has them listed as “expert only” but doesn’t explain why. Plus it says best in group of 3 or more. I am NOT an expert. But I’m not a newbie either. 2 years in and I’m shocked at how much I have to learn. So: how big a tank would you think 3 would need and why the expert only rating?

The truth with Leopard Wrasses is that it's literally a matter of picking the right fish. The more adaptable specimens are super easy to care for and the others are near impossible to keep alive. IMHO waiting for your LFS to do a bulk order of them and then coming back a couple of weeks later and seeing which ones are still active and eating goes a long way towards mitigating the difficulty of keeping one. I did this when I got my Blue Star Leopard Wrasse in July/August of last year. I know for sure 3 of the 6 that my LFS died within the first 2-3 weeks, 2 I am not sure on as they sold and mine was happy and carefree. I brought mine home after 3 weeks and it readily adapted to Seaweed and adapted to LRS Reef Frenzy within a few days. Now nearly a year later it eats like a pig and is a sneak thief when it comes to food. So once again it all comes down to picking the right fish with Leopard Wrasses.

 

[Mariette]

The truth with Leopard Wrasses is that it's literally a matter of picking the right fish. The more adaptable specimens are super easy to care for and the others are near impossible to keep alive. IMHO waiting for your LFS to do a bulk order of them and then coming back a couple of weeks later and seeing which ones are still active and eating goes a long way towards mitigating the difficulty of keeping one. I did this when I got my Blue Star Leopard Wrasse in July/August of last year. I know for sure 3 of the 6 that my LFS died within the first 2-3 weeks, 2 I am not sure on as they sold and mine was happy and carefree. I brought mine home after 3 weeks and it readily adapted to Seaweed and adapted to LRS Reef Frenzy within a few days. Now nearly a year later it eats like a pig and is a sneak thief when it comes to food. So once again it all comes down to picking the right fish with Leopard Wrasses.

Excellent suggestion thank you. May I ask How’s the pod population in your tank and how often do you feed them? Also, how big? Thx

 

[ca1ore]

Some misinformation here. Leopards do not need to be in groups; in fact individuals are probably better. They do not need pods to thrive. The problem isn’t so much getting them to eat as it’s getting them acclimated. They don’t ship well and really need a calm tank initially.

 

[Mariette]

Some misinformation here. Leopards do not need to be in groups; in fact individuals are probably better. They do not need pods to thrive. The problem isn’t so much getting them to eat as it’s getting them acclimated. They don’t ship well and really need a calm tank initially.

I’d be picking up one at LFS if anything that has had a chance to settle in and start eating. It would then go into a 55g qt (either alone or w a suitable tank mate) for observation and settling in before being treated w copper then Prazi. Then 30 days of further observation before being added to DT. Issue is feeding. I feed my tank once a day and am not willing to feed more often. So, I’m trying to figure out if once a day would be enough if there were pods in the tank. I could add live brine every morning but I worry that they may not get to the wrasse in time. Specially if it’s inderground while tank makes inhale the brine. U know?

 

[Fowler freak]

As oshengems states tons of pods for them to live off until they can’t resist frozen, flakes, pellets. Watching other fish charge at food will also entice them to eat eventually. I’ve had 5 of them for years and never understood why they were considered “expert” because they have been thru hell and back with me.

 

[Mariette]

As oshengems states tons of pods for them to live off until they can’t resist frozen, flakes, pellets. Watching other fish charge at food will also entice them to eat eventually. I’ve had 5 of them for years and never understood why they were considered “expert” because they have been thru hell and back with me.

I could eventually get them pods when they make it to DT but not in qt so no leopard wrasse for me then. That sucks.